In the ecclesiastical province of the Upper Rhine there are different regulations in each diocese.
Würtemburg, diocese of Rottenburg. The Circumcision, the Epiphany, Candlemas, the Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption and Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception; Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, each for two days.
Baden, archdiocese of Freiburg. The five chief feasts of Our Lady are kept on the day itself; so too is the feast of St Joseph, and the other festivals are the same as in Würtemburg, with the exception of the 24th June.
Hesse-Nassau: the dioceses of Fulda and Limburg. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, each for two days; the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, All Saints; the Prussian day of penitence is observed in November, and in Limburg, the patron saint on his own day.
Hesse-Darmstadt: diocese of Mainz. The same regulations as in the Palatinate.
Alsace-Lorraine. The four French holy days. An edict of 10th October 1887 adds to these Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Whit Monday, as general holidays in the legal sense, and as holidays and days of rest in the sense of the Code de procédure civile.
In Holland, in the archdiocese of Utrecht, and in the diocese of Harlem, the following rank as full holy days on which no work is to be done: the day following the three chief feasts of the year, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Annunciation, and the Assumption. It is of obligation to hear mass only on Candlemas, the Nativity of Our Lady, and the Immaculate Conception. In the dioceses of Breda and Bois-le-Duc, these three festivals are days of full obligation.
For England, Pope Pius VI. appointed the following holy days on the 9th March 1777: Easter and Pentecost, each two days: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Annunciation, the Assumption, SS. Peter and Paul, All Saints, and the feast of the patron saint. At the present time are observed, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, one day each, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, and All Saints. St Andrew’s day is added for Scotland, and St Patrick’s day and the Annunciation for Ireland. The Immaculate Conception is a purely ecclesiastical festival.
Switzerland affords an interesting study owing to the great varieties existing within so small a space. The diocese of Basel-Soleure: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception. In the canton of Lucerne, St Joseph’s day and the Annunciation are celebrated, the latter also in the canton of Zug. The three chief festivals are kept for day only. The diocese of Coire, comprising the cantons of Grisons, Schwyz, Uri, Unterwalden, Zurich, Glarus, and the principality of Liechtenstein: the three chief festivals, each two days, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas and St Joseph. The last two days do not rank as holy days in the canton of Zurich, nor does the Annunciation in the cantons of Zurich and Schwyz. The Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Nativity of St John the Baptist, and SS. Peter and Paul are not kept in either of these two cantons, but the Assumption and All Saints are kept everywhere. The Nativity of Our Lady is not kept in Zurich and Schwyz, but the Immaculate Conception is kept everywhere except in the canton of Zurich. The following patron saints are kept, St Fridolin (6th March) in the canton of Glarus, Nicholas von der Flu (21st March) in Unterwalden, St Martin with an octave in Schwyz and Uri, St Lucius (3rd Dec.) in Coire. St Gall, comprising the cantons of St Gall and Appenzell, keeps the Epiphany, Candlemas, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception; the three chief feasts, each for two days, and St Gall’s day (16th Oct.) as patron of the diocese. In the diocese of Geneva-Lausanne, consisting of the four French cantons: the Circumcision, the Epiphany (with the exception of the cantons of Geneva and Vaud), Candlemas, the Annunciation (with the exception of Vaud and Neuchâtel), the Ascension, Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception (with the exception of Geneva, Vaud, and Neuchâtel). The three chief feasts are kept for one day each. This is also the case in the canton of Valais, diocese of Sion, but the following days are also kept in this canton: the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption and Nativity of Our Lady and her Immaculate Conception, and St Maurice as Patron Saint (22nd Sept.).
Russian Poland. The three chief feasts, each for two days, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Joseph, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception, St Stanislaus as patron. This last named day is not observed in the schools and law-courts on account of its nationalistic character.